Kellie Gold

Olympic gold medallist Kellie Harrington received a heroic welcome when she returned from the Tokyo Olympics as she travelled through Dublin's north inner city including her homeplace at Portland Row.

Lightweight boxing champion Kellie Harrinton at 31-years-old became the ninth person to win Olympic gold for Ireland this month when she won the fourth medal - making it the most successful Olympics for Ireland since 1996. Team Ireland brought home two golds to finish joint 39th overall, alongside Israel. Cork rowers Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, won gold in the lightweight men’s double sculls final and Ireland took two bronze medals in rowing with the women’s lightweight fours and boxing with Aidan Walsh.

Seconds after she won the Olympic gold medal, a huge crowd of neighbours and friends ran to her family’s home in jubilation.

Portland Row, where Harrington grew up, erupted in celebration as their local fighter secured her place in the history books by becoming the second Irish woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing.

Her parents, Yvonne and Christy Harrington, emerged from their home to scenes of celebration as their daughter was crowned an Olympic champion after defeating Brazil’s Beatriz Ferreira in the women’s 60kg lightweight final in Tokyo.

She won by a unanimous points decision to become only the second Irish female boxer to win an Olympic medal after Katie Taylor’s gold in London 2012.

“I’m an Olympic champion but it doesn’t define me as a person,”

Down to earth Kellie.

Wrapped in Irish flags and surrounded by bunting and posters of the 31-year-old, locals wiped tears from their bleary eyes following hours of nerves and anticipation.

A large screen was erected on the packed Dublin street, surrounded by neighbours clutching cups of tea for the early morning fight.

Children, parents and grandparents all turned out to celebrate Harrington the champion and popped bottles of champagne and danced on the street to cheer on their local hero.

Harrington’s mother Yvonne did not watch the fight and only learned of her daughter’s victory when she heard the cheers from family and friends.

Mrs Harrington said: “We are all just delighted. She deserved it. We heard all the people cheering and we knew she won it. I would give her a big hug and say well done.”

Mr Harrington, who emerged from their home clutching two bottles of champagne with tears in his eyes, said: “It’s magic, just magic.

“I am speechless.

“As the fight was going on, Kellie was stronger mentally and physically. ”

Kellie’s brother Christopher said: “It was iconic and it will take a while to see it happen again.

“Can’t wait to get her home on Tuesday.”

Speaking after the win, Harrington said: “I feel relieved, we are all champions, anyone who steps between those ropes are champions.

“Every fight has been a tough fight, every fight has been a gold medal fight. It’s fantastic and I can’t wait to get back home and sleep on the couch.

“I am exhausted. There have been times in my career when people say the whole country is behind you, this time I really feel the whole country is behind me.

“People might say that’s pressure, that you have weight on your shoulders, but I really didn’t because I know no matter what happened out here today, whether it was gold or silver, I knew I would make myself proud and the people of Ireland proud, regardless of the colour of the medal.”

“I knew I would make myself proud and the people of Ireland proud, regardless of the colour of the medal.”

Kellie Harrington.

Harrington’s success marks the first time Ireland have won golds in two different sports at the same Olympics, with rowers Fintan McCarthy and Paul O’Donovan triumphing in the men’s lightweight double sculls earlier in the Games.

She is just the third Irish boxer to go all the way in the event, following in the footsteps of Taylor and Michael Carruth, who made history at Barcelona 1992 when he topped the podium in the men’s welterweight category.

“I’m an Olympic champion but it doesn’t define me as a person,” said Harrington, who plans to return to work as a part-time cleaner at St Vincent’s Hospital Fairview after a two or three-week break.

Colleagues at St Vincent’s congratulated her in a statement, saying: “All of us at St Vincent’s Hospital Fairview offer a big congratulations to Kellie Harrington on winning a gold medal this morning at the Tokyo Olympic Games. What an achievement, with such skill and determination?

“This is such a proud achievement for Kellie, and for her family and many friends.

“She was an inspiration to all of us throughout this Olympic Games; getting to an Olympic final and taking home a gold medal is a remarkable achievement.

“Kellie is not just an outstanding sportswoman, but also a valued and dedicated staff member here at the hospital.

“We are so proud of her and we look forward to seeing her back here at the hospital, at a time that’s convenient for her, in the coming days.”

Kellie became a world champion in 2018 and through it all she continued working at St. Vincent's.

Her work suited her, she said at the time: “Well it  works for me because at the end of the day nobody knows boxing is going to do for them so you always need to have something outside of boxing.

"I’ve been saying this to a lot of people lately, that you need to have a life outside of boxing because there is more to life than sport and anything can happen in sport and you need something to fall back on and my job is what I fall back on.

"And when I get home from the Olympic Games, I’ll be doing my restricted movements or whatever I have to do and then I’ll be straight back into work because that’s who I am as a person and that’s the way I roll.

A postbox, Outside the Summerhill post office,  just a few minutes from where she grew was painted gold in her honour. An Post said it hoped the transformation was “bringing a little bit of Tokyo gold to Dublin’s currently most famous streets”.

The postbox reads: “Congratulations Kellie. Send celebration. Send triumph. Send love.”

An Post also dedicated a gold box to Cork rowers Paul O’Donovan and Fintan McCarthy, who won gold in the lightweight men’s double sculls final.

Paul O’Donovan’s mother said it was a “surreal” experience watching her son make Irish sporting history.

Trish O’Donovan said it was “fantastic” to see Paul and Fintan McCarthy land Ireland’s first ever Olympic gold in rowing.

Mrs O’Donovan said it was a bittersweet moment, as her other Olympic-winning son Gary had missed out on competing in Tokyo.

“It was surreal, it was very good. It was history in the making yet again, so it was fantastic to be part of it,” she told BBC Ulster.

Mrs O’Donovan, who was prevented from travelling to Tokyo because of restrictions, said Paul may have to delay homecoming celebrations as he has to isolate on his return.

“It will be difficult to say, because with Covid and restrictions, I think he might have to self-isolate for a few weeks when he gets back and will go into hiding,” she said.

“It will be the same Paul anyway.”

It is five years since Paul and Gary won silver at the Olympics in Rio.

Gary, who is a reserve team member this year, lost his seat to Fintan in 2019.

“It was very difficult but it wasn’t as if it was sprung on them, it was the way sport is, you have to be the fastest two to get on the boat, so it’s Fintan’s day,” Mrs O’Donovan added.

“That’s the way it is.”

There were celebrations in Skibbereen.

At the McCarthy house, Fintan’s parents, Tom and Sue, spoke of their pride.

“It’s so overwhelming,” Mr McCarthy told RTE at the time.

“Absolutely delighted. They’ve worked so hard and they were pushed and they delivered and it’s amazing.”

Fintan’s mother added: “There are no words to describe it. Pride just doesn’t cover it, it is so much more than that.

“We hoped beyond hope that they would (win). They were on form, they’ve been on form all season and it seems that no-one could touch them. So we just hoped that that would be the case again today and they didn’t let us down.”

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